I am writing this post while still in China relaxing in my hotel after two days of sightseeing in Beijing. Unfortunately, China blocks many US sites including Blogger, so I have to get to it in a very slow and round-about way through a virtual machine running in US. I did not figure out how to upload pictures to that virtual machine, so they would have to come later when I come back home.

Despite this inconvenience, I had a great week in China and will write a separate post about it. In the meantime, a few highlights:

I enjoyed meeting my Chinese colleagues face-to-face - they were a bit formal and reserved first but relaxed by the end of the week.

I had so much great food - I will have to go on a diet once I come back home :)

I have visited the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and a few other landmarks.

I successfully navigated Beijing subway entirely on my own.

Smarty and her father managed well without me - they were always cheerful during my "check-ins". I really hope that the flight tomorrow is on time, and I will still catch some of Mother's Day with my daughter.

I had enough time to finish Blackout by Connie Willis, since Smarty begged me to read it. Unfortunately, it's a 2-parter that ends on a cliffhanger, but I should make some progress on the second book when I fly home tomorrow.

Planet Smarty Pants Button

Copyright notice

You are welcome to use any ideas from my blog for your own personal use. You may not use my pictures without permission. If you blog about something that you have learned here, I will appreciate linking back to my blog. May the Force be with you!